Chicago Bulls 2014-15 Defense – Glitch In The Matrix?

Another quick installment in my lovetheviz journey. Took a look at the Chicago Bulls and their vaunted Defense under Coach Thibs. Overall a step back this year with a 101.6 Defensive Rating ( Points allowed per 100 possessions ). Down from last year when they had a 97.6 Defensive Rating ( 2nd to Pacers at 96.7 DefRating ). Historically under coach Thibs the Bulls are generally in the top tier when it comes to defense on a year over year basis as compared to this year when they are a decided more mediocre 12th out of 30 teams in Defensive Rating.

If you want a quick look at the Viz or the Tweet on the topic feel free to check out in the following links:

Overall been a tough year overall for the Bulls given D-Rose undergoing another knee operation and the D not playing up to usual expectations. After parsing the NBA/stats I was able to find a couple interesting trends. In the Thibs defense some of the main concepts they focus on are cutting off driving lanes to the paint, cutting off passing lanes, and avoiding fouls. The data definitely shows a problem in at minimum allowing greater access to the paint and the rim in general. A bit difficult without more data to extrapolate further and assess the specific problem in cutting off the paint and whether it is from dribble penetration or not cutting off the passing lanes.

Now onto the big ticket of this data analysis! The Bulls Field Goal Attempt at the Rim rate this year is 27% ( IE 27% of all shots are occurring at the Rim ). This is up 4% points from 23% last year. Once opponents get to the Rim they are doing about the same in terms of overall defense as opponents are averaging 50.9 % last year as opposed to 50.10% this year. Neither number is elite but a slight downtick. But overall not nearly as much of a concern as the 4% increase in attempt rate as clear they are allowing too many looks close in and unless they become an elite rim protection unit that is not their defense focus or elixir for success.